As the doctor increased in wealth, he began to extend his possessions,
and to look forward, like other great men, to the time when he should
retire to the repose of a country-seat. For this purpose he had
purchased a farm, or, as the Dutch settlers called it, a _bowerie_, a
few miles from town. It had been the residence of a wealthy family,
that had returned some time since to Holland. A large mansion-house
stood in the centre of it, very much out of repair, and which, in
consequence of certain reports, had received the appellation of the
Haunted House. Either from these reports, or from its actual
dreariness, the doctor had found it impossible to get a tenant; and,
that the place might not fall to ruin before he could reside in it
himself, he had placed a country boor, with his family, in one wing,
with the privilege of cultivating the farm on shares.
The doctor now felt all the dignity of a landholder rising within him.
He had a little of the German pride of territory in his composition,
and almost looked upon himself as owner of a principality. He began to
complain of the fatigue of business; and was fond of riding out "to
look at his estate." His little expeditions to his lands were attended
with a bustle and parade that created a sensation throughout the
neighbourhood.
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